


As I Grow Up

by ImpossiblyWeird



Category: Yumeiro Pâtissière
Genre: Comfort, F/M, Friendship, learning from heartbreak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-25
Updated: 2016-09-25
Packaged: 2018-08-17 04:37:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,603
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8130665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImpossiblyWeird/pseuds/ImpossiblyWeird
Summary: Mari Tennouji goes through a whole spectrum of emotions as she runs through life.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The series does not focus in on Mari at all. So I wrote this. Her name is written first name then last as the emphasis is on her French heritage, and while she is super serious, I'm sure Mari has a fun side to her. Hope you enjoy this!

“Some women choose to follow men, some choose to follow their dreams. If you’re wondering which way to go, remember that your career will never wake up and tell you it doesn’t love you anymore.” –Lady Gaga

.

Mari Tennouji is ten when her world is dull, colorless, and boring. Monotone. She’s in a party celebrating the new opening of a hotel by her father. Her father is a famous hotel owner in Paris, and she is meeting current and hopefully future allies, clients, and workers. There’s absolutely no one her age, and she’s never met anyone her age. Mari is just so frustrated with her father, her business lessons, her life that she just walks really quickly – running will damage her image – to the balcony of the new hotel.

It’s there at the balcony where her life takes a sharp turn off the track called destiny. Or maybe, now that she thinks of it in the future, it was just aligning itself to where it needed to be. 

There’s a tall, blond man offering plates of cake to passing strangers. He’s wearing a chef uniform, and if Mari strains her eyes she can see the words “St. Marie Academy” embroidered on his shirt. The chef spots her, and offers her a slice after waving her forward.

“No,” she mumbles and spins on her heels, preparing to leave.

“This cake has magic,” he grins, stopping her in her tracks, “it grants happiness. There’s no harm in trying it.” He hands the plate to the young girl, and Mari isn’t sure how to react. 

Her dull world erupts in an explosion of color when she takes a bite, and she thinks that the cake really is magic. The chef just stands there, and his smile widens when he sees her face starting to brighten. 

“I’m Henri Lucas by the way. I attend St. Marie Academy, a school for aspiring patissier. You might want to go there someday; you definitely have the ability to.”

Henri Lucas waves goodbye to her, and she swears that he sparkles. Well, a part of him, near his hair. Maybe it’s just from the magical cake. She leaves with a new found determination, because she will go to St. Marie Academy no matter what.

Mari Tennouji is ten when she discovers a new path to the future and her world is repainted. She’s ten when she falls in love with this Henri Lucas.

.

Mari Tennouji is twelve when she applies to St. Marie Academy. She’s still in Paris, but hopefully that’ll change. She’s been practicing with the chef that works for her family, and she’s actually really good. She’s throwing herself into preparations for achieving her goal that she has recently discovered, and it’s going pretty well. Mari fills out her application to the Japan branch with the utmost care and importance, and her head is filled with dreams of success and Henri Lucas. 

(Funny enough, she doesn’t even think of going to the main branch in Paris, even if that’s where her newfound idol is.)

The hardest part was convincing her father.

“You’re my heir,” he tells her in his office when she brings her application and an essay on why this was the right choice. “You can’t become a baker. That’s useless in this society! I have not raised you to take over my job for you to become a baker.” The last words sound venomous, shameful. 

“No. Father, please, just let me do this,” she tries to negotiate and her powerpoint appears onto the projector.

“I need my heir more than you need your dreams Mari. This empire was not built so it could collapse.”

“Fine then! 27. I’ll take over the company at 27, okay? Just… just let me have this father. I need to do something with my life for myself. This school, St. Marie Academy, they teach French and English and Japanese, they teach core classes, it’s not just learning how to become a patissier.”

Her father has a sharp gleam in his eyes, and he inspects the brochure she has brought and the 20 page essay on why she should attend that school. He finally replies after an incredibly tense minute.

“Alright. But I do have some conditions. First, you must be top of the class. Your future position dictates that you must be ahead of everyone else, and you must begin to practice now. Second, you must establish yourself; make sure your reputation is good and well known. It never hurts to start building partnerships at a young age.”

Her father continues to prattle on about terms and conditions, and Mari is nodding diligently. Honestly, this is better than what she expected, and just being allowed to attend is a win for her.

“And finally,” her father shows a rare smile, shocking her even further, “makes us proud. I know you can.”

She nods one last time, and heads out of his office. She’s passing through the door frame when she realizes there’s one more thing to do. “Thank you… Dad.”

She can practically see her father light up with her back turned to him, but she knows that all they’re thinking of is her deceased mother.

Mari Tennouji is twelve when her acceptance letter arrives two weeks after she has sent her application to St. Marie Academy.

.

Mari Tennouji is thirteen when she arrives at the Japan branch. The campus is laid out in front of her, and she’s in awe as waves of people rush past her. It’s a new world unfurling before her eyes, and it’s colorful, and – 

And Mari Tennouji is alone. Her father is busy, and was genuinely sad to not be able to send his daughter, and heir a nasty voice in her head tells her, away. The only thing she has to remind herself of her family is a picture of her parents before her mother died, and a photograph of her father with her in his office. Her hand tightens around the straps of her bag, before she realizes that she’s potentially damaging her piano books and quickly returns her hold to normal.

She takes a deep breath and heads to her dorm, where she will still be alone as she struggles with her title and future position. 

…..

The first official day of classes unsurprisingly begins with cooking lessons. Or rather, they take a short evaluation and are sorted into teams of four based on their results after covering the basics of the kitchen areas. 

The test is too easy, especially since her father had the foresight to hire professionals to coach Mari. She passes with flying colors, and finishes 2 minutes before the next student does. She can already feel pressure in the air as the other first years whisper about her performance. Her reputation has already formed, for better or for worse.

“Stop chatting or I’ll deduct points,” their new sensei orders, effortlessly ending the beginning to chaos. “I have decided your ranks so please listen for your name. We will be starting with F Group. After you have found your team, we have reserved this day for you to get to know each other. Now, those in Group F are…” 

Their instructor lists the teams, and there are squeals of delight and yelps of pain. Snickers travel through the class when the “hopeless” students are identified. At the center of this mess stands a blue haired boy, and Mari just shakes her head and walks away. 

“Mari Tennouj, A Group.” Her head snaps to attention at this, her hair hits the boy behind her as her fellow classmates begin to titter about the try-hard in their class. “Rui Kaido. Ryou Saeki. A Group. Reiji Takigawa.”

And with that, her fate suddenly clashes together with these three other people as they all go outside to find a place to sit and learn about each other.

…..

“So let’s begin with a basic introduction. Name, interests, you know, whatever,” the boy with the orange hair laughs. “I’m Reiji Takigawa. I want to become a patissier, you know since we’re kinda at St. Marie Academy. I like video games and working towards my goal.” He pumps a fist into the air, and his smile spreads throughout the group.

“I’m Rui. Rui Kaido.” The guy with the bright blue hair introduces. “I like socializing, coffee, and I’m here to learn how to be a better chef so I can properly take over my family’s business.”

“What kind of business?” Takigawa inquires. “I mean, my parents own a restaurant, but it’s not a big chain or anything.”

“It’s a café. We have multiple stores, so I guess we’re a chain? We’re nowhere near Chateaux Seika though.”

“No one can even tough them, if they count as a chain.” the last member offers. “I heard the heir will be attending next year, so that’ll be interesting hm? I’m Ryou Saeki by the way. I like classical music, tea, and reading. My family creates cookbooks and other various recipes, and I am pretty good at the violin.”

Her teammates all stared at her, so Mari figured that it was her turn to introduce herself. “I’m Mari Tennouji. I enjoy playing the piano, cooking, and… well that’s basically it.”

“You’re Princess Mari, aren’t you?” Kaido asked, and his words feel like blades. “What are you doing in a culinary school?”

“What? Where did ‘Princess’ come from?” She’s panicking, thinking her reputation has already been destroyed. No one bothered to answer her.

“Alright, so basically our team has The Very Amazing Me, Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky, Shy Guy, and the Princess.” Kaido smiled. “Oh, this is going to be fun.”

The sound of everyone protesting their nicknames grew louder and more obnoxious as they walked towards the kitchens, and Rui Kaido was eventually given the label “Jerk” in an attempt to seek justice.

When they emerged from the kitchens three hours later and left to go to their respective dorms, they all left with shimmering fairies called Sweet Spirits and were on their way to becoming best friends.

Mari Tennouji is thirteen when she meets her best friends for the foreseeable future in Rui Kaido, Ryou Saeki, Reiji Takigawa, and Honey.

(Except maybe that future isn’t as near as she thought it would be. After all, being a genius and a prodigy equals isolation. Though Mari thought she finally met people who were exempt from that.)

.

Mari Tennouji is sixteen when she sweeps through the Cake Grand Prix tournament and utterly destroys all of her opponents. She is the president of the Japan branch of St. Marie Academy, and is the “Princess” of their school. She has worked in Salon de Marie, and is praised by all of the students.

And yet. 

She’s left alone, too high and mighty for anyone to be with. Being in crowds is beginning to scar her, and her own teammates are starting to feel like they’re part of the crowds. And yet, they are the only people who stand in her presence without fear. Then again, they’ve been together since the beginning. She’s still hopelessly in love with Henri-sensei, and so is Amano Ichigo, that transfer student that he recommended.

Mari curls up her hands at this thought, finger nails digging into her skin. He didn’t recommend her, she thinks bitterly. All he did was give her cake and tell her to consider it. But she has gotten this far with her own powers, and with the strength and support of her team and Honey. She is one of his favorite students, though Henri-sensei has never really taught her much. Her team means the world to her, and she knows that the reverse is true as well judging by the massive amounts of messages that pass between them outside of class and the banter exchanged during lessons. 

Amano Ichigo has nothing on her. Even if she’s the captain of her own team without doing much, made it to the same international stage as her, and possibly holds Henri-sensei’s affection. No. No, Mari thinks. She can’t continue to be like this, to be so protective of her idol. When she goes to Paris, who knows who else was scouted or considered a favorite student. It’s just so hard to get over love.

(When she’s in the Cake Grand Prix that matters to people outside of Japan, she sees that her affection for Henri Lucas really is a ticking time bomb. It just has multiple uses, and has already blown up in her face.)

Rui has tried to help her by taking her out on “dates” but she just doesn’t see him in that way. She’s still sixteen, still young, still naïve. Mari has time to get over her petty crush, but all it seems to be doing is grow. Honey gives her advice, but she’s at square one with Almond, and frankly doesn’t have enough experience. Reiji and Ryou try to bake her cakes, but she has to watch her figure and sometimes it just takes her on a sugar rush.

She continues to pack for the trip to Paris, and arranges for her vacation house to be cleaned. She informs her father that she’ll visit him since she’ll be in the area, and leaves to find her friends to get some last minute practice. The world is watching her, and all Mari feels is pressure and loneliness.

Mari Tennouji is sixteen when expectations rise and the countdown to her doom continues.

.

Mari Tennouji is eighteen when Henri-sensei offers her a job in New York in a Paris-themed patisserie. She accepts the offer as soon as she gets it, with no plans after graduation and her love for him still haunting her after Francois obliterated her. She still has time until she formally becomes the heir to her father’s company, and has been reading books about business when she has free time. She wants to forget her loss during the Grand Prix, and chops off most of her hair in an attempt to start over. It makes cooking easier at least.

Her team is scattered around the world, and Mari hasn’t seen anyone personally for months on end. Ryou is traveling everywhere, part of a well known symphony and choosing music as his first priority instead of cooking. Mari can’t blame him after she ruined everyone’s chances at winning the International Cake Grand Prix, and has a ticket for when they come to New York in three months. Sugar has accepted her partner’s decision, but has persuaded him to cook on a regular basis, for himself and others. 

Reiji is at a special culinary university in London, trying to make it into the world of patissiers. He’s still bubbly whenever the former Group A holds a conference call between the four of them, but Mari can hear that he’s not the same as before. Somehow all of their calls feel more like there’re made out of necessity instead of actually wanting to catch up with each other. 

Rui’s in New York as well, attending the university here. He’s majoring in business, but still takes various cooking classes and manages to astound his classmates with his skills. Mari still doesn’t understand how she hasn’t seen him in about three months when they live in the same apartment complex and rooms with Ricardo.

On the bright side, she has Ricardo with her on this project. On the bad side, Ricardo either tries to flirt with her or introduce her to other guys. Yet his presence is appreciated, and the Italian knows it. They face the shop slowly going into the red, and she’s honestly not that surprised considering New York is filled with little restaurants, bakeries, and cafés with better reputations than theirs, more American than theirs. 

Those who choose to venture in usually don’t approve of the French atmosphere, coffee, basically anything. Sales are practically non-existent, and Sarah has a terrible attitude, so Mari offers her the opportunity to quit before she fires her. It’s not as if they have money to spare. So Mari isn’t exactly shocked when Henri-sensei sends over some St. Marie students to take control. She just wishes it wasn’t Amano, the reminder that she really failed no matter what her friends, father, and teachers say.

She gets the notice that she’s probably going to get fired, and that someone will take over her job. All she can think of is Amano or Francois taking over the shop, judging by their success stories, Amano in Japan, and Francois in Paris. Mari just thinks she’s a giant failure; after all, her friends are avoiding her for screwing up what could have been their big break two years ago. And now, she somehow can’t bring herself to tell her friends anything important. There’s only so much calling can do. She’s truly alone; the only one who would understand her is Henri-sensei.

(And yet, some part of her can’t exactly believe that she’s alone, or that Henri-sensei would understand.)

Then Honey drops the bomb that Mari can’t even spread happiness through sweets. And then she just really, really wants to go back in time and just become her father’s heiress earlier. At least no heartbreak would have been caused. Her self-confidence plummets even further.

…..

Then she meets Linda. And it’s the best damned thing that has happened to her since she’s come to New York. It cheers her up to know that she’s inspired someone with her sweets, and she’s refreshingly honest, telling her things no one else would. Mari supposes that is how she is similar to Koshiro, besides the obvious fact that they’ll both inherit large companies. She receives the title of “Queen,” a nice break from Rui’s “Princess” that had become laced in poison after their defeat. And then the dancer tells the patissier her interpretations, and somehow gets her to dance. And then Mari gets a friend, possibly the only real (human) one she has right now, and Honey seems a little bit too smug.

Her happiness makes her open the shop up the next day, and when Amano suggests the coupon plan, she can’t help but feel guilty for judging her and her friends. Then Johnny calls her Princess Mari, and then she doesn’t feel guilty for not exactly being positive towards him. They plan out the menu, make coupons, and they all think that it’s going to work. Then Koshiro comes with her trailer, makes her announcement that causes everything to be shot to hell. And yet, when the coupons start selling and everyone’s collaborating, Mari can’t help but think that everything’s going to be just fine.

The day goes well, the customers are pleased, and Koshiro’s event crashes and burns. Linda makes a special appearance, and she has no idea how much that affected Mari. So when they all make the video call to Henri-sensei and he calls her naïve, all she can think is: I was made for business. I will show you that I know what I’m doing. And Mari’s resolve to show him what she’s made of strengthens and she can’t think of a better time for Satsuki to come in.

That’s the moment when some of her faith in Henri-sensei fades.

…..

They all hold a strategy meeting, and when Satsuki brings up changing the shop’s theme, Mari feels offended. This is what Henri-sensei left her, what she can work with. She just spent the past two years learning about French sweets from him! What other kind of shop does she have the experience to make?! But at the same time, Paris reminds her of him, and that encourages her to demolish everything related to her idol, mentor, whatever she calls him now. She settles for asking for more time, and they wisely stop pressuring her. 

When Linda arrives, the mood gets a little less tense, and Mari honestly can’t remember when she felt like she had a friend. After all, her old teammates were slowly drifting apart even before their graduation, and she knows that the loss to Team Francois should have strengthened their bond. She makes cake, Linda gets accepted by everyone, and apparently she’s taking a day off of work tomorrow.

So no one’s really surprised when her vacation doesn’t exactly go the way it should. Mari needed to help the people who had their cake destroyed; it was finally an opportunity to do something. So she goes and fixes it, and somehow gets roped into attending the wedding party of someone she doesn’t know with a bouquet of Satsuki’s candy roses. And even though it pains her for people to say she created the cake when Mari simply remade the old one, Honey manages to convince her that it’s okay. She made people smile and that’s the best thing that can happen. Mari realizes that she doesn’t need to stay on top, and that sweets are for making other smile. She revels in the moment, and dances with a smile on her face.

She resolves to focus her lens on the people of New York, and seeing Linda perform makes Mari want to become a supporting character that will help others and this city flourish and grow. The new concept for the shop is New York, and the shop is even better than before. Mari creates the Foret Linda, because she owes so much to her new friend, and other new sweets are added as well. The Americans finally have normal coffee. Linda and her friends will work part-time, and Mari knows that Satsuki won’t hesitate to help out her and Ricardo whenever he’s nearby. Amano and the others will probably make visits to New York in the future, and they’ll definitely help out.

So when they’re in the middle of serving customers, and Henri-sensei calls, Mari feels so damn proud of herself for telling Amano to inform him to call back later. After all, they’ve done it. She’s keeping the shop, thanks to everyone’s efforts.

…..

After Amano is gone, Mari’s shop is still attracting more and more customers. Linda and her friends were fully trained after three sleepless days, and Ricardo suggested hiring graduates from St. Marie Academy. She contacted Henri-sensei about it, but her request was put on hold until his project in Japan was completed. 

Mari has heard about Amano and Koshiro’s competition from him as well, and plans on going to help Amano’s shop to pay them back for what they did for her. Although, Henri-sensei did say that he asked a few alumni to come help, so they would get a few more hands on board. Mari can also hear that he’s proud of her for not chasing after him. She’ll take it. 

Mari also decides to try to befriend Francois, and gets her phone number. They spend about an hour throwing insults at each other before they’re swapping recipes and laughing. Francois reveals she’s visiting New York soon, and will definitely stop at her shop. Mari supposes she has a reason to go back to Paris now.

Ricardo’s opening up the door, and Mari and Linda are carrying a few fresh jars of honey. The other part-time workers have an important audition, and they all properly wished them luck with a miniature celebration. So Mari’s not prepared for the moment when she sees Rui, Ryou, and Reiji inside the shop. 

Luckily, Linda was holding all of the honey jars while Mari dug out her keys, as Mari falls to the ground and starts crying. She’s not sure if she’s happy at seeing them all or mad at Ricardo for not telling her because you share an apartment with Rui and you couldn’t bother to tell me he’s going to work with us. She settles for being happy, and shakily gets up to her feet. Her old teammates are unprepared for her to tackle them in a hug, and they can only smile sheepishly. Mari thinks it’s probably not a good time to tell them that Francois is coming in about two days. 

They spend the next few hours serving customers, the new workers catching on quickly. Linda instructs Ryou and Reiji about serving the customers, and Ricardo and Mari teach Rui the necessary recipes. They close at seven, and Mari feels tired, and not exactly ready to face the past. Ricardo shoves three tables together and everyone finds a seat. Mari can’t help but remember the strategy meeting she had with Amano and the others before.

They start off with introductions, and the Sweet Spirits fly across the room to catch up and try to not scare Linda. It feels awkward, and Linda can sense the tension in the air, and excuses herself after the members of Team Tennouji have a silent face-off. Ricardo leaves with her, Basil flying after him. Silence fills the room, and Mari’s not sure if she wants to laugh or cry.

“So,” Reiji ventures, “how has everyone been?”

“…Good,” Ryou responded, fingers itching to take his phone out and ignore the awkwardness with the power of technology.

They all nodded in agreement, and silence greeted them once again until Mari chose to shatter it.

“…I’m sorry. For everything. With Team Francois, I mean,” Mari mumbled out. “I made us lose that match, and I’m so, so sorry.” She felt tears welling up in her eyes, and a lump was beginning to form in her throat.

“No, no, Mari,” Rui said softly, standing up to go hug her, “we left you alone to face that, and we need to apologize for that. We were content to stay on the side while you were facing someone on the same level as you. We were way too cocky, and we abandoned you after we lost.”

“I’m… I’m also sorry!” Reiji blurted out. “We blamed you for our loss, but we were a team. We couldn’t comfort you because we weren’t a team, and that’s the entire basis of St. Marie Academy. That’s where we failed. After junior high, we weren’t a team. We just became a group of people who could make accomplishments, and that’s worse than being synchronized and terrible. That’s what I wish I could change, you know?”

Ryou decided to throw in his input, as being silent this time wouldn’t cut it. “We were a team by definition only, and we practically destroyed the purpose of the competition. I feel like the only time we were ever really united was first year, you know? I mean, we could face the world back then, and now we’re just… hiding from fate, from each other.”

They all made a noise of agreement, and Rui awkwardly sat back down in his chair. Their spirits sat on their shoulders, and this time the silence was comfortable as they all basked in each others’ presence. It was all fine, until Honey realized her honey wand screen was swirling.

“Mari,” Honey whispered, her eyes glued to the screen, where a cheerful pink Sweet Spirit was waving. “It’s Francois. She wants to video call you. She’s about to leave Paris.”

Her former teammates all stared at the duo in disbelief, and Mari just tried to nervously smile it off. “We’re friends now?” 

“What.” Somehow, Ryou, Reiji, and Rui all had the same reaction as Mari went to go fetch her laptop. Oh why did Ricardo and Linda have to leave? At least they knew Francois and were on not-so-terrible terms with her.

And Mari has to say, the video call was pretty troublesome. But all of their past problems were pretty ironed out, so she chose to count it as a success. Besides, Mari had to greet Francois, and then get ready to go to Japan. Koshiro wouldn’t know what hit her shop. Although, knowing her, her simple shop is probably a giant, towering castle.

“I’m returning to Japan within the next few days,” Mari reveals, sipping her tea and exhausted from the disaster of a call. “I’m going to visit Amano’s shop in St. Marie’s Garden.”

Ricardo and Linda are relieved that she’s taking a short vacation, and her former teammates can sense how rare it is for her to declare this sort of thing as no one protests. Although, Rui still insists on going with her, to meet old friends and partially to avoid spending too much time with Francois.

…..

Mari and Rui are finally in Japan, and it’s so good to be back. Satsuki arrived before her, and had been creating strategies for his friends for a while. Mari has already sent the recipe to the Foret Linda, along with a piece of advice. On the other hand, her shop in New York is probably collapsing, as Ryou and Francois get along like oil and water. Only Ricardo can stop them, but then Reiji has a habit of picking a fight with him. Yet Mari’s never been happier.

Seeing Marie’s Garden doesn’t stab her in the heart as much as she thought it would, so maybe Mari is getting even closer to breaking free from Henri-sensei. There are still plenty of people getting drawn in by his gaze, and Mari feels foolish for her previous dreams.  
Perhaps she can help them, but the more she considers this, Mari realizes that they have to do it themselves. There was no point in comparing herself to them; they are all different people, with different surroundings and experiences. The few things she has in common with Francois and Amano are a fear of losing and a passion for cooking. 

Koshiro’s castle is enormous, and of course it’s a castle because a normal shop just wouldn’t do Chateaux Seika any justice. Johnny is also apparently there, with the two of them fighting for the sake of love. Hopefully, Koshiro would grow out of her Kashino obsession and focus on her talents, because behind her façade she is a worthy heiress. 

She just had to learn that reality was different, and throwing money around wasn’t really effective when everyone else was also loaded. The castle was a waste, and wouldn’t create much of a profit compared to a successful smaller shop, and she relied too much on her company’s support. Koshiro would have to learn the hard way.

Amano’s shop is cute, and she can see Lemon setting up the display of cakes. Rui had been to their shop before while Mari had been visiting family and friends, and had informed her of what to expect. There’s a long line already, though the shop hasn’t opened yet. Then again, it is Christmas Eve. Mari slips on her sunglasses, because she is going to get this party started.

Mentally blasting Kesha probably isn’t a mature thing, but so what.

…..

Mari is given the job of cashier and waitress, a nice and relaxing job after being cooped up in her shop for what seemed like ages. She bakes a tray of Foret Linda as well as the others had too much on their hands. It would be even nicer if the males would stop gawking at her though. There’s a steady flow of customers, and even more have tickets for waiting or reservations. She can see plenty of packages of cakes exchanging hands, and her gut tells her Amano will win this time.

And she’s right. Mari should probably email Koshiro a list of things to improve on, and a few business propositions. After all, the time for their inheritances is rapidly approaching.

Mari Tennouji is eighteen when she finds her home, a place where she belongs, and her best friends. She becomes less judgmental, and she finally gets over Henri-sensei. Now she’s chasing after her dreams, and is confronting her future.

.

Mari Tennouji is a day away from turning twenty-one, and she’s in New York dreading what will happen tomorrow. Linda contacted Francois, and had convinced her to fly over to celebrate. Ricardo took the liberty of inviting Amano and Kashino who have been in London for the past year. Lemon also replied that she would come, taking some time off of the shop back in Japan’s Marie’s Garden, and Johnny had overheard and ran after her. In the end, their New York shop never got more St. Marie students, but they were fine. Otherwise the workers would all be attending the party tomorrow.

That Koshiro had decided to throw. As a bonus, Henri-sensei had been invited by Amano, and had agreed to attend with a few others famous throughout the pastry world.

Mari was seriously screwed. Was this karma for all those times she had mentally blasted Kesha?

…..

“Where am I,” Mari said in a monotone voice. She had a blindfold covering her eyes, and had been led around New York by Linda and Francois for what felt like a better part of an hour.

“Wait for it…wait for it,” Linda cheerfully replied, dragging her along. Mari could hear Francois smothering her giggles now, and she resisted the urge to attempt to break free from their grasp. If only Mari could see the looks on the passing faces of strangers, although that was probably what was making Francois laugh. 

“We’re here!” Linda stopped walking, causing Mari to topple into her, with Francois trying to steady her. Francois undid her blindfold, and Mari looked up to see a giant hotel, with a sign advertising her birthday party that was apparently taking place in an “Aquarius” room that all of her former classmates were invited to.

“Oh no,” she whispered, soaking it all in.

“Oh yes,” Linda and Francois shot back in sync. Mari should probably cut down on the time spent bonding with these two if they used it to team up on her. On the bright side, Ricardo’s birthday was approaching, so they would get to torture him soon, probably in Paris.

That was the only thing that made this situation okay, especially when her friends pushed her into the party.

…..

This is torture. 

Admittedly, if this celebration was anything other than her birthday, it would be beautiful and well-planned. The ceiling is covered with a mural of constellations, stars glittering in the dark sky. Deep blue cloth is draped over various tables, the fluffy chairs in a matching color. Soft music is playing in the background, and St. Marie students work together to make a towering cake as their Sweet Spirits sat on a glowing chandelier.

And in the middle of it all, is Mari. She’s surrounded by presents and well-wishers who’ve had too much champagne. Rui, Reiji, and Ryou are sitting in a corner, laughing at her pained expressions. It feels as if she’s back in high school, surrounded by crowds who see her as a trophy. 

Then Ricardo came, bounding through the crowd and managing to tackle her in a hug. Linda had dragged Francois with her, carrying a tray of champagne flutes. Her former teammates had finally decided to brave the crowds that were beginning to disappear. Amano and Kashino noticed the meeting, and had snagged Lemon and Johnny on their way. Koshiro, who was still pursuing Makoto, shoved the last of the crowd away, followed by Sato and Shiotani. Satsuki noticed the ruckus, and made his way over with Sennosuke. 

Champagne was passed around, Johnny was jabbering away, and Mari caught herself laughing along with everyone from his wild story of how he spent the last few months. This is where she wants to be, she realizes. With her friends, Mari is invincible.

Mari Tennouji is twenty-one when she realizes she wants her friends to be part of her future, not just her present. She likes being with them, no matter how weird or crazy they seem. And her resolve to spend time with them when she will eventually inherit her father’s company grows. After all, the clock is ticking, and this time she can’t avoid her fate.

(Koshiro’s present to her turns out to be a partnership between their respective companies, and it just reminds Mari of the job she received at birth. The whole I-threw-this-party-for-you thing was apparently a gesture of kindness.

It is a nice present and opportunity for the future though.)

.

Mari Tennouji is twenty-six, and the weight of the world is slowly falling on her back. Her father has been sending her envelopes filled with details about his business and possible partnerships for her to secure. She spends less and less time at the shop and everyone was getting worried. Mari hopes that this time, they will actually treat her like a person when trying to comfort her instead of a sacred statue. Having only Amano and Koshiro actually concerned for her well-being enough to crash into her room last time had hit her hard.

She needs to go to Paris for the formal announcement and party for her inheritance, so maybe she can snag an extra invitation for Francois or someone else in the area. Maybe Ricardo can go with her, but both of them leaving would throw the shop into disarray.  
Oh who is she kidding, Mari has to leave the shop sooner or later, and everyone knows it. She told them that she’d be inheriting soon, and they all backed off with an understanding sound.

“Our princess must return to her rightful throne,” Rui says with a wide grin.

“Yeah,” Ricardo chimes in, “except this one doesn’t need a prince and can fight dragons by herself.”

And that’s how Mari knows her title of “Princess” is never coming back. At least from these guys, as Johnny still addresses her as mock royalty.

Then they end up closing the shop early and throwing her a party, thankfully planned by Reiji and Ryou rather than Koshiro. It’s nice and cute, and Mari can’t help but cry in the middle. Linda and Francois had knocked down just about every serious wall she had. 

“It’s just,” she wails, all of her walls knocked down through the years, while Linda pats her on her back, “I don’t want to leave you guys, and I don’t want to leave this shop, and just–” oh hey look, Ryou found the tissues. Mari grabbed a handful and attempted to dry her tears.

“And we don’t want to leave you Mari,” Almond said, startling Linda as she tried to find the tiny voice she heard. Everyone glared at him when the dancer asked if anyone heard anything, but Reiji just waved it off as her imagination as Honey slapped Almond. 

“What he said,” Rui mumbled, low enough so only Mari could hear, then raising his voice so everyone heard him, “we’ll definitely miss you back, so just wait until the shop visits you.”

Everyone nodded, and that just made Mari want to cry even more, though her previous tears had already dried. 

“Let’s take a picture!” Reiji cheered as he proceeded to shove everyone into position, snatching up a camera from nowhere and setting it on a tripod. There was a jumble of yelps and a few swear words until they achieved Reiji’s ideal spots and the timer began to beep.  
Mari was in the middle, flanked by Linda and Rui, all sitting on chairs. Ryou and Reiji were behind them, while Ricardo was sprawled out on the ground in a draw-me-like-one-of-your-French-ladies pose. Their sweet spirits hovered in the air, wondering where to land before deciding on just staying where they were.

Three…two…one… the camera shutter clicked, and Reiji immediately raced to the nearest convenience store to get the pictures developed. Linda poured everyone more champagne, and Ricardo served pasta, because sometimes they didn’t need sweets. 

And Mari would never forget this moment.

…..

She packs two suitcases for her return to Paris, knows she won’t return here for a permanent reason. After all, she has mansions in both Japan and France. Her work will be done in Paris, because that’s kind of where the hotels are. Mari’s already anticipating what she’ll do first, probably finalizing the partnership between her company and Chateaux Seika. After all, great people make great things, and that’s what she intended to do with their alliance. 

Her plane leaves in two hours, and Mari finds herself leaving her apartment, taking a cab to the airport. She has said farewell, and it’s not the final time she’ll see everyone. Ricardo had announced his decision to head to Paris in a few months already. The ride is filled with the noise of New York, and Mari is going to miss being part of this city. Paris is similar, but totally different, and her future workplace differs with her old café even more. She has trouble wrapping her head around the changes.

But she’ll be ready, as this is her job, her promise to fulfill. So Mari steps out of her cab with an air of confident and retrieves her luggage before heading into the international terminal. She has to do this, she can do this. She worked for her title of “Princess” before, and she’ll work even harder so people forget about it (it really is an embarrassing nickname). She goes to her gate after many long lines and boards her flight away from her home, and towards an old memory.

…..

She walks down the aisle of the party held in honor of her twenty-seventh birthday, her inheritance. There are hordes of people, only three that she knows. Koshiro is standing in an elegant pink cocktail dress, flanked by Sato and Shiotani, serving as representatives from Chateaux Seika. 

“Mari Tennouji is my heir to my company, and she will lead us to an even brighter future than the one we have kept in our sights,” her father announces.

Polite clapping from strangers fills the room, sealing her fate. She bows towards the audience, her purple dress is stiff and heavy, and forces another smile. “I will,” she promises.

Mari Tennouji is twenty-seven when she inherits her father’s company, and is halfway across the world from almost all of her friends. She has grown up, and is now in charge of confronting reality.

.

Mari Tennouji is thirty-one when her company is flourishing. She had a meeting with Koshiro, the proper owner of Chateaux Seika at age 29, in seven minutes. Their partnership has shocked the world, both of them sponsoring multiple cooking contests and appearing in even more. They have provided each other with complementary chocolate in hotel rooms and discount places for workers of Chateaux Seika to stay at.

Koshiro had finally grown up and stopped chasing after Kashino after her father gave her a position on his advertising team. She had finally begun to tap into her potential as an heiress at 25, and had soon become the leader Mari knew she could be. After all, Koshiro had a large global company to watch over while her childhood crush married his teammate and opened a patisserie. She just needed a push, one her family was willing to give her.

Amano and Kashino had gotten married, Mari had attended their wedding a few years ago, Johnny and Lemon had something between the two of them. Sennosuke is engaged, Satsuki is too busy traveling and being an interior decorator to worry about romance. Their spirits are all fine, having regular chats via their magical utensils.

Of course, they’re still cooking, each of them owning a sweets shop of some sort. Mari has a meeting with all of them in two weeks, where they’ll talk about partnerships and events and some less professional things. 

Linda had moved to Paris, worked under Mari and headed the Human Resources Department. The girl’s natural energy attracted many people, was perfect for the job. Of course she still danced, and was currently dating someone she shared a passion of dancing with. They were still best friends, along with Francois, who was teaching at St. Marie’s Academy now. Francois was definitely going to be a great principal, and the two often went out for drinks to laugh about their silly days when they were in love with a star: shining, fleeting, and gone when the dawn arrived.

And her boys? Well they were all fine. Reiji and Ryou were on some world tour right now, and based on their Line chat, they were in Spain eating tacos. Damn, now she wanted tacos. They wrote articles on the food they ate, made amazing food and were writing a cookbook, had impromptu violin gigs on the side of the street. A conference call between the four of them happened every two days, each of them the highlight of her days. 

Rui was…special. Or, to be frank, he was her fiancé. He managed the line of cafes his family owned, and often worked at the French St. Marie’s Academy Branch as well. Needless to say, this resulted in Francois sending her random photos of him at work. Mari loved him, real love instead of that blind admiration she used to have for one Henri Lucas. 

Honey was still by her side, had stayed there because Mari needed her, more than anyone else honestly. Not many of her co-workers could see her, but Honey definitely held many strings. She was Mari’s partner after all, was floating by her shoulder right now assuring Almond she’s be back home at ten, was Mari’s source of strength. Nothing would ever change that.

Mari Tennouji is thirty-one years old when she’s finally running towards the future, with all of her friends right next to her, when everything is okay because they made it that way.

There are so many things she wished she could change, but if it all led to this moment, then Mari doesn’t regret anything.


End file.
